Baby Moses

Law tries to save unwanted infants

Posted: Wednesday, September 16, 2009

David Pittmandavid.pittman@amarillo.com

Firefighters in El Paso were passing time Sunday watching the NFL when the doorbell rang at their fire station. One went to the door and was surprised to discover a 2-day-old baby on the stoop wrapped in a blanket.

What is the Baby Moses Law?

The legislation was signed into law in 1999 and took effect in 2001. It allows a parent to leave a child up to 2 months of age with a designated emergency-care provider - a fire house, ambulance station or hospital - without the threat of prosecution. The law encourages parents who plan to abandon their children to do so with a designated emergency-care provider. The law also protects parents from criminal prosecution. According to the law, a child-placing agency can be a designated emergency provider if the agency has on staff a licensed registered nurse or someone who provides emergency medical services.

The parents of the infant have not been found and it's not clear who left the newborn at the fire station, but according to investigators, the abandonment - while troubling - happened within the confines of the law.

Parents can leave infants less than 60 days old with an emergency care provider such as a hospital, fire station or ambulance service. The parent is free of criminal charges under a 1999 law commonly called the "Baby Moses Law."

"The spirit of the law is to protect the children and give these parents a safe option," said Greg Cunningham, a spokesman for the Department of Family and Protective Services. "A lot of mothers are afraid to drop the child off because they're afraid of being arrested, and that's just not the case."

Cunningham spoke of the Baby Moses option in light of the death last week of a newborn in an Amarillo home on Southwest 11th Avenue. Authorities say a 15-year-old girl gave birth to the child in her bedroom. She was later treated at a hospital for bleeding and stomach pains. An attending physician determined she had recently given birth, which she denied. The physician called police who then went to the home and found the infant dead, according to authorities. It had been wrapped in a blanket and put in a closet. An object had been placed in his throat, leading to asphyxiation, authorities said.

Police have charged the teen with capital murder, and she's now in custody at the Youth Center of the High Plains. Many questions remain unanswered in the case, such as why the adults in her home apparently were unaware she was pregnant.

Potter-Randall Special Crimes Lt. Gary Trupe said Tuesday no charges are pending against either the three adults who live in the home where the birth took place or the father of the child.

"The problem is she would deny being pregnant," Trupe said. "I'm not sure there is any obligation when she denies being pregnant all the time."

One of the adults in the home is her guardian. The girl's parents live out of state.

Trupe said statutory rape charges will not be brought against the father of the newborn. While sex with a minor often will result in such a charge, an exception is made when the two people involved are of corresponding age.

The Baby Moses Law allows for a parent of any age to give a baby to an emergency worker so long as it's unharmed, unwanted and less than 60 days old.

"The message we are trying to get out is there's an option," Cunningham said. "It's a good option and an easy one to take."

"Literally, you can come in, find a nurse, tell them you are leaving the baby with them and walk out," he said.

Last year in Texas, 13 children were listed as abandoned under the conditions of the law. Another 10 were simply listed as abandoned and were not left with a designated emergency provider. Of those 23 cases, none were in the Panhandle or South Plains.

Infants abandoned under the law are placed in foster care until the state can find a family to adopt. "With a newborn child, it will be relatively easy to find an adoptive home for them," Cunningham said.

The Victoria-based Baby Moses Project contends that the exact number of abandoned newborns may never be known. However, the project cites a 1998 study that found 108 newborns were reported abandoned and 33 died.

Forty-three states have enacted laws similar to the Baby Moses Law, according to the project's Web site.

Authorities admit the law is not well known. Baptist St. Anthony's Hospital, for instance, doesn't post signs notifying expecting mothers of the law.

The law is clear to say that simply abandoning a child where it can't be found will result in criminal charges.

"In a worst-case scenario, a child could die of neglect if it's not found quickly, in which case the charges would be even more serious," Cunningham said.